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    Keeping the Doctor Away
    Keeping the Doctor Away
    Keeping the Doctor Away
    Ebook44 pages35 minutes

    Keeping the Doctor Away

    By Steven D. Bennett

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A musical melodrama, for three men and three women. The villain, Willis Winesap, and his partner, Goldie Jonagold, arrive at a small town looking to run a scam. Intercepting a letter from the new town doctor saying he will be delayed. Winesap has an inspiration. He will act as the doctor, Goldie his nurse. He will examine the miner's, proclaim them contagious with the dreaded Gold Lung Disease, or 'E-Golda,' put them in the Quaran-tina, take their gold and leave town! With the help of his homemade invention, The Lungalator, he does just that. When it seems they'll get away with their dastardly scheme, our hero will, of course, save the day, get the girl, and set justice right! With six songs, seven scenes, and very minimal set and props, 'Keeping the Doctor Away' is the right prescription for an hour of laughter, music, and suspense!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteven D. Bennett
    Release dateMar 19, 2016
    ISBN9781310375675
    Keeping the Doctor Away
    Author

    Steven D. Bennett

    I was born in Boston and grew up in Connecticut and San Diego, which gave me a good background in both history and tanning. I have four children and six grand-children, remarkable in that I am only 35. The fact that I have been married for almost 36 years is the result of an in-utero wedding and honeymoon.I have published many short stories, poems, songs, and recently wrote and directed a musical melodrama that was performed in the San Diego area. With six books under my belt (THE PATH OF DAYS, TRACE THE DEAD EYE, HUMOR OF THE GOSPELS, HUMOR OF THE GOSPELS Daily Study, THRONE and THE CHUCK-IT LIST) I am looking for a bigger belt to stuff the seventh, which hopefully will be completed in time for the Christmas season. It is about a writer who finds to his horror that a mistake he made on page 47 completely invalidates the plot, forcing him to thus track down and kill anyone who has bought the book lest they spread the truth about his miniscule talent. It is titled DON'T READ THIS! and looks to be a best-seller, unless people take the title literally. Fortunately, nothing I write can be taken literally. It is also fortunate I did not stay with the working title: DON'T BUY THIS! Personally, I don't buy a word of it.I also have a blog, I Wandered Off the Tour: A Journey In Self-Publishing, which contains my thoughts and experiences through the tormenting process of creation.Other than writing, I like listening to the same dozen albums and re-runs of the same dozen TV shows I've heard and seen hundreds of times, to the endless delight of my wife.

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      Book preview

      Keeping the Doctor Away - Steven D. Bennett

      Keeping the Doctor Away—A Melodrama Musical

      by

      Steven D. Bennett

      AUTHOR'S NOTE: This play was written for the annual October melodrama in Julian, California. Being that the town or players to put this on will most likely be limited in resources--and being that it is much easier to add than subtract—the play was also was written with an eye toward minimalism. The sets are relatively simple, the props relatively few. Having had the uncomfortable experience of losing actors at the last minute, the parts are limited to six, though in the enviable case of having more players than parts, the four Miners could easily be played by four different people, though the effect is funnier if played by one. Another possible option would be for the miners to be played as written except during the Miner's Lament song, where two players could take the place of the fake miner-heads-on-a-stick in the Quaran-tina. Another idea is that the three singers be completely new to the play, as to give a local singing group (or barbershop quartet minus one) some stage time. It would give the show more variety and lose nothing toward the story.

      An author always hates to explain the joke; the nonsensical words in some of the ALL responses is simply a gag based on the fact that many crowd responses are heard as murmurs and never recognized, similar to the old peas and carrots traditionally said in those circumstances. If someone in the audience actually hears some of the words it adds to the intimacy as they are now in on the joke.

      Changes to the script are easily made to include local businesses or families—another way to get the audience to feel they are on the inside--though this author humbly excuses himself from any rewrites. After purchase, you're on your own. And speaking of purchase, contact the author for information on what that would be. Generally, a standard amount per performance is customary and is always negotiable. Contact the author at: deadlifebooks@email.com.

      If you're reading this, musical notation and prop design have not been added to the script, but they will be soon.

      With that, enjoy.

      sb

      p.s. the play can also be found on YouTube

      Cast

      DRIVER/MINER 1/MINER 2/MINER 3/MINER 4 aka KAVANAUGH BALDWIN III

      WILLIS WINESAP

      GOLDIE JONAGOLD

      MANZANITA MACINTOSH

      SHERIFF JONATHAN PIPPEN

      ELVINNIA GRANNY SMITH

      Scene Overview

      SCENE 1--ARRIVAL

      WINESAP, GOLDIE, DRIVER

      'BAD APPLE' SONG

      SCENE 2—ELVINNIA'S PLACE

      ELVINNIA, MANZANITA, SHERIFF

      'ELVINNIA'S HOMEMADE APPLE JUICE' SONG'

      SCENE 3—DOCTOR'S OFFICE

      WINESAP, GOLDIE, MANZANITA, ELVINNIA, SHERIFF

      'THE LUNGALATOR' SONG

      SCENE 4—ELVINNIA'S PLACE

      ELVINNIA, MANZANITA, SHERIFF

      'AN APPLE A DAY' SONG

      SCENE 5—DOCTOR'S OFFICE/QUARAN-TINA

      WINESAP, GOLDIE, MINER'S 1, 2 & 3, SHERIFF

      'MINER'S LAMENT' SONG

      SCENE 6—IN

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